OJR Welcome Sabers Back to Ontario

by Sebastian Abdon Ibarra

The Ontario Jr Reign (25-6-0-1) are set to face off against the San Diego Sabers (9-23-1-0) this Saturday at Ontario Center Ice Arena. The Jr Reign are a perfect 2-0 against the Sabers this season, with their last meeting taking place in early November. 


The 2023-24 season has not been kind to the Sabers, but they are coming off of a very strong showing at the Las Vegas showcase where they won all four of their games. They were buoyed by an offensive explosion of 24 goals during their four game stay in Vegas. Their progress halted in their first series out of the holiday break, dropping all three of their matchups against the Fresno Monsters. Considering who they were up against, it would be wise for Ontario to not disregard the progress San Diego made in Vegas. 

Scoring 3.67 goals per game clip this season, the Sabers possess an adequate offense. It is when you take a look at their defensive stats this season that you see why this team has struggled. Surrendering a staggering 186 goals this season has led to a -65 goal differential. Falling behind so often puts pressure on the offense to pick up the slack, which is something that they have not been able to do consistently. When you compare that with Ontario’s +88 goal differential, it is easy to see why the Jr Reign have been much more successful this season.  

Given how many goals the Sabers have surrendered it is not surprising that they have struggled on the PK. They have only been able to kill penalties at a 70% clip this season, and have given up 25 more power play goals than Ontario. It is something that the OJR needs to take advantage of this series. 

Jett Koch is one of the many Jr Reign players to watch out for this series. His seven points in the last series against the Thunderbirds were the most out of any OJR player last weekend as the Reign swept their division rivals. 


Get your tickets now for Saturday’s game at 8:25 p.m. Catch all the high-flying, hard-hitting hockey action + Nah’Shon rocks the rink!


Purchase Tickets